NFL MVP ODDS HEADING INTO WEEK 14

Drew Brees’ storied career contains almost everything a QB could dream off, including all-time passing records, a Lombardi Trophy, and a Super Bowl MVP. The lone thing that has escaped Brees thus far throughout his luxurious 18-year career is a regular season league MVP. However, this could be the year that all changes. Brees has been brilliant throughout this season, leading the league in both passer rating (123.2) and completion percentage (75.5), while also leading his Saints to a 10-2 record, the second best record in all of football. Where Brees has truly excelled this season is with decision-making, in 384 pass attempts this season, Brees has only tossed three interceptions. He and his Saints did lay an egg last week vs. Dallas, but Brees has a slew of mouth-watering matchups to help pad his stats throughout the rest of the regular season. It all starts this week vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the leagues 5th worst defense against the pass. While some might say Brees will get the MVP nod as some sort of lifetime achievement award, which may be true to some extent, he has also put on a brilliant, year-long performance on the gridiron to warrant any award that may come his way.

The new golden boy of the NFL, Pat Mahomes entered the season with question marks. Is he too raw? Is he too young to hand the keys to a championship contending team? Did the Chiefs make the wrong decision in moving on from Alex Smith? The answer to all those questions were a staggering no, and the answer to who is the 2018 league MVP, may very well end up being Patrick Mahomes. While Mahomes has had some struggles with turnovers this season, that is bound to happen when you attempt as many passes as he does. Mahomes’ arm talent is unrivalled in today’s NFL. He can make any throw, from any position look like a five-yard in-route on air. It helps that Chiefs have likely the league’s best group of skill players, although one of skill players no longer resides in Kansas City. The loss of Kareem Hunt could push Mahomes’ MVP bid in either direction, if Mahomes can continue his dazzling play on the field without a proven run game throughout the final month of the season, it could catapult him to the top of most ballots. Yet, Mahomes could begin to find some struggles in the next two games vs. two top ten defenses that will be keying in on KC’s passing game. Mahomes will likely find a way to excel no matter the difficulty of defense put in front of him, as he has all season, to the tune of 3,923 passing yards, and 43 total touchdowns.

Much like his entire 15-year career, Philip Rivers’ bid for league MVP has been slept on this season. Yet, if he closes out the year the same way he’s played the first 13 weeks of the season, there will be no denying Rivers’ legitimacy as an MVP contender. In a season where Brees and Mahomes have stolen much of spotlight, Rivers has gone on to enjoy his best season to date. Rivers currently holds career bests in both completion percentage and passer rating, all while leading his team to a 9-3 record through the first 13 weeks of the season. Rivers’ marvellous play has been even better of late, tossing ten touchdowns to just three interceptions in his past five games. Rivers will likely add to his hot streak on Sunday, with a matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the league’s worst ranked defense. If that’s not good enough, he follows it up with a matchup against the league’s second-to-worst ranked defense, the Kansas City Chiefs, the following week. In a year where the MVP race has been thought of as a two-man race most of the way through, Rivers is trending up, and making room for a third.

About the Author

Vincent Somma Vincent Somma has been involved in the football world from a young age. He played football for sixteen years, and has been involved in fantasy football leagues for most of that time as well. Vincent began to dabble in sports writing towards the end of his high school career, and has been writing ever since. His strongest forte is draft analysis and NFL coverage.